


Things To Do In Class When You're Bored

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Boredom, F/M, Fake Science, Gen, Post-Episode: s03e21 Absolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6936202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Fitz is bored in class, he doesn't doodle, he creates a compiler theory.<br/>When Jemma is bored in class, she doesn't daydream, she watches Fitz code.</p><p>AKA, how in the world did Jemma hack a SHIELD base from memory?</p><p>Based on <a href="http://onewordtest.tumblr.com/post/144763967389/what-does-professor-vaughn-even-teach-according">this awesome tumblr headcanon</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Things To Do In Class When You're Bored

**Author's Note:**

  * For [affectivefallacy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/affectivefallacy/gifts).



> FYI, all computer science in here is fake and should not be taken seriously. The last time I coded anything at all was longer ago than I'd like to admit.

Jemma sat at her desk with her chin resting on her hand and blinked slowly as she tried to force her eyes to stay open. How in the world was Professor Vaughn able to make a topic like _Peggy Carter actually founding SHIELD_ and make it mind-numbingly boring?

She sighed and tried to pretend that he was Professor Binns. She barely had to squint to imagine him as a ghost who had failed to notice his own death and simply continued to drone on.

And on.

And on.

Sighing again, she switched hands because her arm was as in danger of falling asleep as the rest of her. The stifling heat of the classroom was doing little to mitigate the somnolent effects of Vaughn's monotone as he continued to pour forth information at a steady rate, pausing neither for breath nor for questions.

As much as her classmates teased her about being Hermione, even _she_ couldn't pretend interest in this. Although, with the level of technology present at SHIELD, sometimes it _did_ feel like she was attending Hogwarts.

Still, if she _were_ in her third year at Hogwarts, and she _were_ Hermione Granger, she'd have a Time Turner right now and be able to fast forward through this class.

Oh, if only.

She looked down at Fitz to see if he were as comatose as she felt like being. She usually had to kick his seat to keep him awake, that's why she sat behind him rather than beside him. But instead of face down on the table with soft snore emanating from under his arms, he was sitting up straight and typing rapidly.

Fitz? Taking notes? In _Vaughn's_ class?

Forget Hogwarts, she was in the Twilight Zone.

She shifted over a seat, the better to see his screen, and saw that he wasn't taking notes. He was coding.

She peered at his compiler window for a moment but wasn't able to make heads or tales of any of it. Finally, since even perl was more interesting than Vaughn, she opened up a chat window and asked.

Fitz started slightly at the sudden pop up, then gave her an annoyed look over his shoulder. No doubt he was expecting a lecture of a different sort from his best friend.

Ridiculous-! That was _Peggy Carter_ Vaughn was lecturing about!

Then again, even _she_ , the preeminent Peggy Carter fan and historian that she was, couldn't stay awake right now, so who was she to judge?

Jemma yawned quietly as she waited for Fitz's reply. He seemed to be typing an awful lot, and she was sort of wondering if perhaps she shouldn't have asked. Then a large block of text appeared in her chat window.

Her brow furrowed as she read her way through it. She was somewhat familiar with perl herself, it being the language she used when she had to code for her own work, but that sounded like it was considerably beyond her abilities.

In fact, it sounded borderline illegal.

She was suddenly exceedingly grateful that Fitz had taken what had seemed like extreme precautions in setting up a secure web tunnel for them to use when they chatted. He'd done it so that none of their classmates could hack into their files and steal their work (and nor could SHIELD), but it was definitely coming in handy for other reasons now.

Fitz looked at her over his shoulder again, guiltily this time. He knew when he was caught out.

Turning around again, this time with a pleading expression, he mouthed, "Please don't tell anyone?"

She smiled back and nodded, mouthing back, "Of course not."

He visibly relaxed at that, and turned back around, closing his coding window.

Jemma bit the inside of her cheek and looked up at where Vaughn was somehow making even _Howard Stark_ seem like the most boring person ever to exist, and then she nodded to herself. She might as well learn _something_ during this lecture.

This time when Fitz turned around, his face was a portrait of surprise. "Really?" he mouthed with an incredulous frown. She couldn't blame him.

"Yes," she mouthed back with a nod. Then she pointed to her own laptop. "Show me."

Her eyes widened when a command window popped up on her desktop, and suddenly she was getting a lesson in a whole new level of coding. She scrolled up and down it for a few minutes, trying to get a handle on what exactly he was doing, and then she flipped over to the chat window and started asking questions.

She spent the next hour and ten minutes with her brow furrowed and her eyes glued to her screen as Fitz coded in one window and explained what he was doing in the other. He was actually a remarkably good teacher in this medium, better than when he was hovering over her as she attempted to do it herself and pointing out all of her mistakes. This way, he was showing her the 'proper' way to do it and answering her questions as they arose.

She was going to have to remember this method in future.

"If you could all read Chapter 34 for our next class, we will be exploring the SSR's work in Hollywood, California," Vaughn said to finish off the lecture.

Somehow, he even made the golden age of film making as dry as dust.

Jemma packed up her laptop and notebooks and waited for Fitz at the end of his row.

"So, tomorrow can you show me that tunneling routine to subvert the security system?" she asked brightly.

Fitz laughed and shook his head. "We'll make a hacker out of you, yet, Simmons," he said fondly.


End file.
